[lacycamey]

Hello, everyone! Does anyone have any recommendations for voice reading software? (the software that will back to you your manuscript).

Looking at downloading one in the next few hours and was wondering what everyone recommends.

Thanks!

 

[rahmama]

Yes! Check out Ivona text to speech readers: http://www.ivona.com/
I bought the program. None of the free ones were worth using; all sounded like robots. I chose Amy who has a British accent and it was a joy to listen to her read my book to me. I'm considering making an audio sample of my book available with Amy, but probably not the whole book.

I used the reader as one of my editing tools (among others) but it was nice to hear the flow of the words. I wanted my book to sound good.
Let me know which one you chose.
~rahma

 

[lacycamey]

Thanks, Rahma! I will let you know! Checking out ivona right now!

 

[greenpen]

Hello, everyone! Does anyone have any recommendations for voice reading software? (the software that will back to you your manuscript).

Looking at downloading one in the next few hours and was wondering what everyone recommends.

Thanks!

Spoken text does a reasonably good job. You get to download the file as an MP4. The voices are better than a lot I've heard. Still no substitute for a real person though.

http://www.spokentext.net/

 

[DevonMark]

Text Aloud ( http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/ )

I have tried several and found Text Aloud to be the best. It is the only one in the price range that allows you to correct pronunciation which I find essential.

 

[micki]

I used naturalreader which helped me so much. Just as a matter of interest, I don't have Vista on my computer, but doesn't Vista offer this as one of their features.

http://www.naturalreaders.com/index.htm - this is US$49.50 and gives you two voices, either British or American.

 

[rahmama]

Does anyone use these text to speech readers as an editing tool? That's my main application for them. I thought long and hard about spending money on a nice voice, but I'm glad I did. I always catch mistakes when listening to my writing that I don't catch with visual editing.
I used Ivona text to speech because of the features it had. You can upload your whole book if you like and saved in in their format, then convert it to audio.

I'm still toying with the idea of making an audio sample of my book, but I don't know if a 'robot reader' even as good as Ivona's Emma, will turn readers off.
Any feedback on this?
~rahma krambo

 

[greenpen]

I'm still toying with the idea of making an audio sample of my book, but I don't know if a 'robot reader' even as good as Ivona's Emma, will turn readers off.
Any feedback on this?
~rahma krambo

Don't go there. Find a hard up actor. No program can put the right nuances/inflections in the reading the way a real human can.

 

[kcmay]

Text Aloud ( http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/ )

I have tried several and found Text Aloud to be the best. It is the only one in the price range that allows you to correct pronunciation which I find essential.

Thanks for this! I downloaded the free trial and installed the AT&T Natural Voices I'd bought 6 years ago. They work great together. I can use my AT&T natural voice (very high quality voice) with this software.

 

[Sandra Edwards]

I use Text Aloud with AT&T Natural Voices.

 

[swolf]

I use NaturalReader, which is a free download.  The free voice that comes with it is a bit wonky, but it's free.  There are others available to buy.

The oddest thing about it is, when it tries to pronounce the word 'crotch', it comes out as 'crows nest' (or something very close to that).  Perhaps the person who created it had a bad experience with a girl in his formative years?  

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

I use Kindles text-to-speech. It's a great tool and catches formatting also.

Edward C. Patterson

 

[rahmama]

Don't go there. Find a hard up actor. No program can put the right nuances/inflections in the reading the way a real human can.

You're probably right. Thanks for the advice. My husband is actually a great reader, but it's hard to pin him down long enough to do it right.

 

[lacycamey]

Thanks everyone! The main use for this is for editing purposes. @Rahmama, yes, haha, my husband is a good reader, too But He is hard to pin down, as well! I really like Ivona! But, I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's compatible with my mac. Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[rahmama]

Thanks everyone! The main use for this is for editing purposes. @Rahmama, yes, haha, my husband is a good reader, too But He is hard to pin down, as well! I really like Ivona! But, I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's compatible with my mac. Thanks everyone for your input!

Lacy: Here's what I found on the Ivona website regarding Macs.
Is a version planned for other operating systems (Mac OS, Linux, Symbian, Windows Mobile)?
Answer: Currently, there is no work underway to make IVONA Reader available for operating systems other than Windows. In order to run IVONA Reader in Mac OS or Linux you can use PC emulating programs from the Windows system already installed, such as: Parallels, VMware, or the freeware QEM.

Hope that helps!

 

[lacycamey]

Thank you, Rahmama! I will have to now show my husband that (To see if he can find VMware etc. on my mac lol).